Between Two Fires

Stuart Miller

Black soldiers fought on two fronts in the Civil War: their enemies were both the pro-slavery forces and the entrenched racism of their own side. Hansen makes extensive use of fully documented primary source material--from leaders and from ordinary people, and including letters, speeches, and battle accounts--to show that blacks eager to fight had to struggle to join the army and then were often denied equal pay, health care, and status. Surrounded by paternalism and much blatant bigotry, the black recruits always had the burden of having to do better than average in order to prove themselves worthy soldiers. The very wealth of the detailed material doesn't make this easy reading, and the pages are too tightly bound. But the cover is attractive, the text is broken up with many moving contemporary photographs and engravings, and the extensive source notes and bibliography will help readers find some of these dramatic personal accounts, both for classroom research and for individual interest. Part of the African-American Experience series, this is an uncompromising view of people whose story needs to be told.